With increasing automation of manufacturing and warehousing operations, conveyors are becoming ever more relied upon for high-speed, reliable transfer of goods. Often, continuous manufacturing processes turn out goods faster than subsequent processing and finishing stations can perform. In order to accommodate this mismatch, diverting conveyors are used, for example, to distribute the product from the output conveyor of a fast stage to a number of input conveyors of subsequent slower stages. In such applications the lateral transfer to slower conveyors can cause jams on the faster conveyor due to the longer time required to effect the lateral transfer relative to the transit time of the goods on the faster main conveyor. In addition, the need for faster, more facile diverting conveyors requires a self-contained unit which can be fitted to operate compatibly with existing conveyor installations. Typically, conventional diverting systems are built in to the existing conveyors and are not designed to be added as auxiliary or peripheral equipment. More importantly, the diverting portion of the systems use belts interstitially of the main conveyor rollers, which require increased spacing of those rollers and consequent limitation of the smallest size objects which can be carried without risk of damage to the objects or jamming of the conveyor.